abrdn plc Invests $16 Million in Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL)

abrdn plc purchased a new position in shares of Exelixis, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXEL) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor purchased 666,837 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,997,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Exelixis by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,335,640 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $72,884,000 after purchasing an additional 58,320 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its stake in Exelixis by 9.3% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,884,424 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $63,025,000 after purchasing an additional 246,605 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its stake in Exelixis by 10.7% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,266,932 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $49,489,000 after purchasing an additional 218,757 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Exelixis by 6.0% in the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,015,838 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $44,046,000 after purchasing an additional 114,267 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Exelixis by 1,043.9% during the 3rd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 1,957,848 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $42,750,000 after acquiring an additional 1,786,687 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.27% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on EXEL. Barclays lowered shares of Exelixis from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $25.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Thursday, April 11th. TheStreet upgraded shares of Exelixis from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a report on Monday, March 18th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Exelixis from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $27.00 target price on shares of Exelixis in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Exelixis in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $26.29.

Exelixis Stock Up 1.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ:EXEL opened at $23.71 on Thursday. Exelixis, Inc. has a 52-week low of $18.08 and a 52-week high of $24.34. The company has a 50 day moving average of $22.67 and a two-hundred day moving average of $22.16. The company has a market capitalization of $6.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 0.54.

Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The biotechnology company reported $0.27 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25 by $0.02. Exelixis had a net margin of 11.35% and a return on equity of 8.57%. The business had revenue of $479.65 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $481.23 million. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Exelixis, Inc. will post 1.21 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director David Edward Johnson bought 190,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were bought at an average cost of $20.70 per share, for a total transaction of $3,933,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 1,100,730 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,785,111. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Exelixis news, EVP Patrick J. Haley sold 47,020 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.45, for a total value of $1,008,579.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 384,866 shares in the company, valued at $8,255,375.70. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director David Edward Johnson bought 190,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was bought at an average price of $20.70 per share, for a total transaction of $3,933,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 1,100,730 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,785,111. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 2.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Exelixis Profile

Exelixis, Inc, an oncology company, focuses on the discovery, development, and commercialization of new medicines for difficult-to-treat cancers in the United States. The company offers CABOMETYX tablets for the treatment of patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma who received prior anti-angiogenic therapy; and COMETRIQ capsules for the treatment of progressive and metastatic medullary thyroid cancer.